Angel Breaks
by Pookiey
Summary: Kanade lived in the afterlife known as 'heaven' for 99 years; the overseer is now sending her back to the afterlife high school due to the fact that she was not able to fully pass on. though the school she left behind is no longer the same, and neither is she. Kanade is no longer the perfect Angel you once knew, now she is broken. and one person can fix her... a former friend.
1. Heaven

**(If I could make a season 2… this is how it would go down… please bear with me, I finished the series like 3 hours ago, and it was kinda painful to watch) **

**(Kinda sad that I have to do this: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANGEL BEATS OR ANY OF THEIR CHARACTERS; I HOPE YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW WHICH CHARACTERS ARE MINE, AND WHICH ARE NOT… Thank you)**

**Introductory song: Angel of Darkness (Nightcore)**

**Title: Welcome home… or what's left**

**Chapter 1: Heaven**

**99 years; 8 months; 23 days after the departure of the SSS crew**

Kanade had awoken in her home staring at the celling in bed of her apartment, un-aged and scathed; she looked over to alarm clock on her bed and checked the time, "6:00 am",

"Hm, I'm early to wake I guess," she said in a monotone voice.

Over her years of living in "Heaven" she had learned to regain her emotions, feelings and expressions, though she maintained a less stiffened monotone voice. She had left something behind on the day of her disappearance; she lost all feeling of this emotion. And that emotion was love.

She stared back up to the celling and placed her hand into the air, she examined it,

"Hand Sonic," She muttered... nothing happened, "Damn it," she said clenching her fist,

"Back at the afterlife, the school, I could perform all of these abilities; I can feel it dwelling within me. I can't however seem to expel or summon it," She said mentally.

Then a memory came into mind, "I love you Kanade," A familiar voice said,

She clenched her head tightly and tried to think, "That voice… who he is? I can vaguely remember him. I can hear him, but I can't remember his face… or even his name."

Kanade tried to remember, but the more she pondered, the closer she drew to a head ache,

"Mm," Kanade muttered as she grasped her head.

She got up from her bed and walked over to her four drawer dresser. She knelt down and opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a uniform dress, walked over and set on the bed. It was a navy blue dress that pulled tightly on her legs and lengthened below her knees. Out from the drawer, she pulled out a white under shirt, and a blue tie, and set those out as well,

"… Wait, how do I remember him at all?" Kanade muttered. She pondered on the thought as she walked over to her bathroom. She walked in and flipped on the lights, she rested her hands on the counter top, setting herself in front of the sink. She looked up and gazed at herself in the mirror, golden eyes, silver hair… short, nothing much had changed since she had passed on.

She picked up the brush beside her hand and lightly stroked her hair, giving a luscious shine. After about four minutes of brushing her hair, she set the brush down in its original place and examined herself in the mirror; she examined her hair, turning her head side to side making sure she had done an exceptional job. She smiled to herself in the mirror and exited the bathroom, turning off the lights on her way out and walked her dresser once again; she opened the second to bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of knee high socks. She put them on and then applied her proper dress attire. Once she had finished, she walked back over to the dresser and picked up a pale blue barrette sitting on top of her shelf and instinctively lifted a fraction of her hair and clipped the barrette on.

Finally set and pleased with her attire, she walked through her front door and onto the sidewalk of an empty street. The sun had slightly risen, shedding some light upon the large city. She breathed through her nose the pure air that could never be tampered with,

"Kanade!" a voice called.

She turned her head to the direction of the calling, to see a young man with dark blue spikey hair, a dark brown unbuttoned jacket, a green shirt, and a pair of jeans along with a pair of blue sneakers, about Kanade's age, (Or so it looked) running toward her. He had slowed down as he drew closer to her, and stopped beside her,

"Oh good morning Sato," Kanade greeted,

"Com'on Kanade, call me by my first name," Sato said,

"I don't seem to know you all that well, so I won't stop calling you Sato," Kanade responded, "And please call me Tachibana."

"Ugg, alright fine… so you headed to work?"

"M hm," Kanade responded as she nodded her head,

"C-can I walk you," Sato asked,

"Sure," Kanade answered.

The two started off too Kanade's job walking side by side,

"So how's work?" Sato asked,

"Being a bartender, is not my idea of an exciting job," Kanade said,

"Sorry I asked," Sato said as he placed his hands in his jean pockets,

"How about you, how are things at your job?" Kanade asked,

"I quit," Sato said sternly,

"Why did you quit?" Kanade asked, slightly increasing her tone of voice,

"I don't need those guys; I can survive on my own."

Kanade stopped and turned to Sato,

"The last time you asked me for food was two days ago."

"Yeah but it's not like I actually have to eat anything, I mean, we are practically immortal."

"No, we are not."

"How so?"

"The overseer… God, he has given you this life, so you should cherish every passing second of it, if you abuse it he will banish you."

"And to where exactly will he banish me to?"

"Your worst nightmare, I would presume," Kanade said as she started walking again, "Think about what I told you, and please, don't walk me any further."

Immediately Sato thought of being in a pit with spiders, surrounded, nowhere to run. The expression on his face had been wiped,

"I don't think our 'All mighty overseer' will do that to us."

Later that day at three o'clock in the afternoon, at "Riko's bar" Kanade had been taking inventory on drinks and other necessary items that she had served at her workplace. The bell rang on the front door, meaning another customer had walked in,

"Welcome," Kanade greeted as the female walked to the bar stand, she was young (also about Kanade's age, she had long pink hair the flowed down to her shoulders, she wore white coat with a yellow under shirt, and a yellow skirt

"After noon," she replied lowly,

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kanade asked smiling to the customer,

"Nothing really, I'm just hanging around."

"Why is that?"

"I'm just struggling, trying to forget."

"Forget what?"

The girl placed her head down on the counter and began rubbing the wood,

"Horrible memories, my boyfriend decided to ditch me with some of his guy friend and turns out he was dating someone else."

"Dating?"

"What, you act like you don't know what that is."

"Explain."

"Well it's when you have an affectionate feeling toward someone."

"I think I know what you mean."

"So you understand why im upset?" the female said picking up her head,

"I'm afraid not, because at the same time, I don't understand," Kanade said,

"Now you've lost me, I can't understand anything you are saying."

Kanade giggled a bit, "Don't worry about it, it's just rambling."

"Well rambling can be good in some situations, but at the same time it can get you into a lot of trouble," the girl said as she emerged from the table,

"Wait, what is your name?" Kanade asked,

"Oh I'm Nakamura," she answered,

"Im Tachibana, what is your first name?" Kanade asked,

"It's Yurippe, you?"

"Kanade."

"Huh strange I feel like I've heard that name from somewhere before," she said as she turned toward the door, however something on her sleeve caught Kanade's attention,

"What is that on your sleeve?" Kanade asked,

"Oh this?" Yuri said pointing to a patch with lettering on it, "I don't know, I woke up here with it on my clothes." Yuri picked at the stitching on the patch ad pulled it off, "Here," Yuri said walking back to Kanade and placing the patch on the counter,

"What does it say?" Kanade asked as she picked up the patch,

"I asked around, and a bunch of people say it looks like says, "SSS""

Kanade froze for a moment and stared blankly at the patch,

"Is something wrong Tachibana?" Yuri asked,

"Oh nothing," Kanade insisted as she picked up the patch, "Thank you very much Nakamura."

"Not a problem, have good day," Yuri said as she walked through the door.

Later that day;

It was 5:30pm and Kanade was to depart from work in about half an hour, then someone bust through the door,

"You guys, there's a guardian in front of the bar," the man paused and gasped for air, "He is asking to see some girl."

The room was quiet, and then a large figure walked into the room, wearing white robes with a sword tied to his waist,

"Who is Kanade Tachibana?" he asked.

The room was quiet, not a soul dared to speak. When a guardian demanded the presence of someone it usually meant that person had broken a major rule, or some other defying means,

"No one?" he said as he pulled his katana half way from its sheath,

"I am," Kanade responded as she walked around the bar counter and stood in front of the man,

"So tell me, why you didn't speak up sooner?" he asked sheathing his sword completely,

"Hesitation."

"Over course it was," he said harshly, "The overseer demands your presence."

Kanade's had now focused her attention on the guardian,

"What for? Why does he demand my presence?"

"That's for you to find out," he said as he grabbed Kanade's wrist. Thrust his hand into the air and a beam of light shot from his hand, in a split second the two were sent flying into the air and to the large door steps of the overseer's court room hall. The large court room was suspended in midair on top of a cloud, where you could overlook the afterlife's world

"In you go," the guardian said as he bumped her shoulder,

"Are you afraid of him?" Kanade asked,

"The overseer? Hell yeah, you're crazy if you don't," he answered,

"I see."

Kanade pushed open the door and walked in, with the guardian following close behind,

"Kanade Tachibana?" A deep bellowing voice called,

"Y-yeah?"

"Come forth."

Kanade obediently walked forward to the large desk with the guardian following, the hall had been lined with columns of old fashion marble, at the far end of the court room was a large desk about ten feet high, in front of the desks were guardians standing at attention awaiting duty.

Kanade reached the front desk, in the seat, where the overseer would sit, was a bright and gentle light,

"Do you know why you are here Kanade?" the overseer asked,

"I'm assuming I am in trouble," Kanade answered,

"No you are not, tell me, do you remember the after life's high school?"

"Yes, vaguely."

"That is why you are here; you were not to remember anything at all. Your mind was to be erased, as if to start a new in an un-elevated existence."

"What will you do?"

"I am sending you back, you see, when you find your fulfillment, you may pass on, though you are to forget everything."

"What did I forget to fulfill though?"

"That is for you to find out."

Kanade stared down to the floor to remember what had happened during her stay at the high school,

"Don't ponder just yet, I will be sending you once you go to sleep. So please head home and get some rest," the Overseer commanded, "Guardian, see this girl home, and clean up the mess you made at the bar,

"Yes sir," the guardian replied as he escorted Kanade out of the overseer's court room.

Once outside, the guardian closed the door and spoke,

"Damn it, what kind of mess did I make at the bar," the guardian said as he walked to the overlook, "well shit," he muttered as he observed the smoke emitting from the bar,

"I still have to get you home, what's the address ?" the guardian asked,

"4138274 R.I.P road," Kanade answered,

"Not far from here, alright brace yourself," he said as he grab Kanade's wrist and leapt from the cloud.

As the guardian closed in on his designated arrival point he began slowing down, the closer he approached the ground the more his speed decreased. Once he had been six feet, he dropped Kanade safely,

"Well this is it, hope you find what you are looking for," the guardian said,

"Thank you, I hope I do too," Kanade answered.

The guardian sped back into the sky, and Kanade walked into her apartment. Once she reached her room, she dispersed of her clothing and laid down in her bed,

"Am I actually going back?" She muttered.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, though she couldn't help but ponder, did it change, will she get her abilities back, will she person held accountable for the voice in her head. She tossed and turned in her bed,

"Kanade," a familiar voice called again.

She opened her eyes, and stared into the blank abyss of the night sky. She sat up and examined herself, she was in her old school attire; tan coat, white undershirt, a red bow tied on the shirt, blue skirt, white knee high socks, and loafers.

She stood on her feet and examined her surroundings,

"Hey!" A male voice shouted from behind.

She turned to see a dark silhouette standing with a sword resting on his shoulders

**(Well it's short but it's all I can do for now. Picks up here soon enough)**

** Outro song: She's an Angel (Nightcore)**


	2. Pain

Tittle: Welcome home… or what's left of it

Chapter 2: Pain

Kanade sat herself upright in the middle of a court yard just under a dim light maintaining a steady eye on the silhouette about four feet from her. The dark figure lowered its blade and pointed it to Kanade's chest,

"What are you doing out here after hours?" the figure asked,

"I-I just arrived," Kanade replied blandly.

The figure inched closer and closer to Kanade until it stood just under the light so it may be scene. A male figure in an all-black attire came to view, black cargo pants, black shoes, black shirt, black jacket, and a black face mask, the only uncovered areas of his body were his long orange hair that split through the middle of his head to cover his left eye, and his brown eye that gleamed in the light,

"Who are you?" asked the boy,

"My name is, Tachibana-"

Before she could say anymore, she felt a sharp pain in her chest, she let out an agonizing grunt and looked down at the blade that impaled her heart,

"_What is this… pain…? I-I can't bear it,"_ Kanade thought

Her eyes grew weak and her vision became blurry, she fell on her back and felt the blade being pulled out,

"_Am I… dying…?"_

Her eyes closed and all was silent, she was concealed in an immobilized state in silence.

Kanade slowly opened her eyes about ten minutes later, she looked up at the bright light from a light bulb, and about a few feet away she could hear voices,

"Look we should just leave her out there."

"Well we can't be 100 percent sure of who she actually is."

"Otonashi, she could be a shadow herself."

"_Otonashi… it sounds familiar, where, when did I meet him?"_ Kanade thought

"Can it Clyde-"

"_Clyde, that name does not sound familiar."_

Kanade sat upright and examined her surroundings, it was a small square room on the far end of the room was a wooden desk where the two boys quarreled, in the center of the room was a glass table and beside it was a couch where Kanade lay, and behind her were wooden double doors. She looked down and looked at her shirt, it had been stained with dark blood and there was a vertical cut in the fabric of the cloth, she felt her chest to discover there was no wound. She looked over to the two boys and was able to get a clear view of "Clyde", he was a young kid, he short black hair and wore a regular school attire, kakis tannish over coat with a white collar shirt and a black tie,

"Excuse me," Kanade called, there was an immediate silence and Clyde peered over to Kanade, "Where am I?"

Clyde picked up a giant cleaver like sword that had been leaning against the desk,

"Maybe you should take another nap," Clyde said sternly as she glared at Kanade. Kanade only glared back,

"Damn that's a cold stare, as if she were looking into my soul" Clyde thought,

"No, its fine," Otonashi declared as he pushed Clyde's hands down causing him to lower the sword as well Tell me miss…" Otonashi hesitated to remember what her name was,

"Tachibana," Kanade finished. There was a short pause before Yuzuru spoke

"Right, look I'm sorry that we had to kill you so suddenly, but if we hadn't killed you the shadows would have and there would be no coming back from it."

"Shadows?" Kanade asked,

"You don't know do you?"

Kanade shook her head in answer,

"How long have you been here exactly?"

"I've been here before, but I don't remember the people being so dark clothed."

"Is she for real?" Clyde whispered to Otonashi. Otonashi pushed Clyde and walked over to her,

"So you're saying you've been here before?" Otonashi asked,

"Yes," Kanade answered. There was a long moment of silence between the three, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Otonashi answered coldly, "Look whether you are batshit crazy or not, but people don't return to the afterlife, especially here."

"Why is that?" Kanade asked,

"Because this place is a dead zone, dark creatures called shadows took over this place, but they only come out at night and they tend to stay away from the dorms so the students are able to attend classes."

"How long has this been occurring?" Kanade asked,

"98 years or so."

There was a short pause between Kanade and Yuzuru,

"Well I need to be heading out, stay here for the night and we'll get you a dorm as soon as possible," Otonashi said as he and Clyde started toward the door.

Once Yuzuru and Clyde exited the room and Kanade could confirm that they were gone by the distance of their footsteps she stood up and examined her hand,

"_This was the place where I had the guard skills, I wonder if they still work" _Kanade thought,

"Hand Sonic" she muttered. Out emerged a medium sized cybernetic like blade from her hand, she smirked slightly at her accomplishment. She retracted the blade and started for the door, but before she grabbed the handle a thought had crossed her mind. Has anyone seen a guard skill, do they even exist anymore, if not then what would the consequences be if she fought out in the open as such. She retreated back to the couch and sat down gracefully and placed her hand on her lap and started to think, _"Why am I here?"_

Otonashi and Clyde walked down the dark hallways of the girls dorm building, Otonashi examined each door while Clyde followed with his sword resting against his shoulder,

"Dude, why are we in here, isn't this an invasion of privacy?" Clyde asked,

"Not exactly, there is a room in here that-" Otonashi stopped at a room that had been sealed with multiple two by fours that had completely covered the door,

"So is this what everyone refers to as the forbidden room," Clyde stated,

"Yup, do me a favor and open that will you?" Otonashi asked,

"fine," Clyde answered as he squared up to the door. He brought his cleaver like sword above his head and in one swift movement brought down all of the boards of wood and split the door in half,

"Oh brilliant job you're going to wake up the whole school if you're that reckless," Otonashi whispered,

"You told me to bring it down," Clyde whispered back,

"I meant to take the boards down by hand smart ass, well there's no fixing it now, we'll just have to wait until the four in the morning repair cycle."

Otonashi walked inside, on the left corner was a bed and toward the middle of the room was a desktop computer, and there was nothing else in the room aside from those two objects. Otonashi walked over to the desktop and turned it on,

"What the hell are you doing?" Clyde asked nervously,

"Oh, you don't know." Otonashi paused and looked over to Clyde, "This was the Angel's computer." Just then there was a ding sound from the computer, both Clyde an Otonashi looked at it,

"An error… Huh," Clyde stated. Otonashi grabbed the desk of which the computer sat on,

"Damn it!" Otonashi yelled,

"Dude chill I can fix it."

Meanwhile in the office room, Kanade pondered on what the pain had felt like when Otonashi stabbed her in the heart and why she hadn't died in the process. There was much she had remembered about the school but some memories where skewed and vivid. She wanted to try it again to be familiar with pain, she didn't remember this feeling all too well, and so she raised her arm,

"Hand Sonic," she muttered, the medium cybernetic like blade emerged from her right arm, she placed the edge of the blade against her arm and hesitated on cutting, she closed her eyes and prepared for the pain. In one quick motion she cut a deep wound into her left arm, she let out a sharp and quick yell of pain and her blade immediately retracted, she looked at the dark blood which oozed from her arm. Her arm stung and the blood poured, instinctively she got up to search for something to stop the bleeding. She ran over to the desk and opened the drawer but there were no medical items, she glanced back down at her wound, however there was no wound to look at, the only trace of the cut was the remaining blood on her hand that dripped down onto the floor,

"Pain, how does someone cope with this feeling?" she asked herself


	3. Shadows

THANKYOU SO MUCH for your guys' reviews and suggestions I appreciate it, I was worried that not many people would read this, thank you and enjoy this chapter ;)

Chapter 3: Shadows

Kanade looked at her wrist that was now unscathed, then she glanced over to the area of which she cut her wrist, there was no blood or any evidence of the sort. She decided that the best idea was to sit and wait for Otonashi to return and await further instructions, she sat and tried to remember what had happened during her previous experience at this high school, _"Who was I, am I familiar to these people, no if I remember correctly I believe that you had at most four years in this place... but I had seven years here, why can't I recall anything?" _Kanade pondered as to why she was sent back, she had fulfilled her "life" there, "_wait, what did I fulfill here?" _

* * *

Girls Dormitory; fourth floor

"Com'on what the hell is taking so long Clyde?" Otonashi asked hastily. Clyde spent around twenty minutes tops working on his attempts to get the computer to work,

"Almost done, chill," Clyde paused and looked at the computer's internals, "Well I found the problem, it just needs a little dusting." Clyde took a deep breath and blew out as hard he could, a mass of dust expelled through the back of the computer and the fan blades let out a slow whiz the gradually grew louder, the monitor turned on and began its start up, "And that my good friend is called patience."

Otonashi shove Clyde away from the computer and knelt down so that he could operate at eye level, _"alright miss Tachibana lets see who you really are."_

* * *

Kanade sat and pondered to herself as to what she fulfilled and what she accomplished. She remembered her abilities, her skill and that she served as an enforcer during her years there but had forgotten the real reason why she was able to move on, "_Maybe I better tell Otonashi or that other guy what happened maybe they'll have some answers." _she had decided to go out and find Otonashi and Clyde, she emerged from the couch and made her way through the door to search for the two.

* * *

Otonashi sat at the computer searching relatively frantically through the computer while Clyde sat on the bed and observed Otonashi work. There was a thick silence in the room, the only sound that could be heard was Otonashi's fingers typing, clicking, and searching. Clyde was curious as to what Otonashi was searching for so he decided to investigate into his cause,

"So, this Angel who or what was it?" Clyde asked as Otonashi searched the computer,

"I don't exactly remember everything, I remember that it was a girl, she was very important to me. She kept order through out the school and she went about her days as a student," Otonashi answered,

"What happened to her?" The typing stopped suddenly and both Otonashi were perfectly still. Otonashi looked down and replied,

"She abandoned me, abandoned us, because after she left, they showed up. She didn't move on, she knew what was coming, she and God left us her to be destroyed, erased." Otonashi resumed typing, "She promised to stay with me, they said there was a chance that she would return but I've waited almost a hundred years and nothing has happened... look at this," Otonashi said as he pushed the chair back to make room for Clyde. Clyde got up and walked over to see what he had found, "This was a list of Angel's abilities, this is what made her powerful." Clyde looked through the list of abilities and examined them, Hand sonic, Harmonics, Wing, "_wow someone got really bored," _Clyde thought,

"And look at this, there is no user present in the current area, meaning that Angel is not here... I want you to link this computer to the hack and keep it updated," Otonashi ordered,

"We almost have the hack full, and why do you want the computer to update us on something that isn't even here and hasn't been here in the past ninety-nine years?"

"I don't think Angel isn't here, because someone has to observing us right? Can you try and link the hack to just that program?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem, just give me a moment." Clyde pulled out a rectangular device with a screen that reassembled a phone except this has a USB at the end of the device and two prongs on the bottom, this device was the 'Hack' it allowed the user to track multiple computer's activities. Clyde put the Hack into the USB driver and began linking the Computer to link it to the hack.

* * *

Kanade roamed the campus in search for Otonashi and Clyde, she stood at the front of one of the dormitories hoping to find them, she walked inside the dark building and called out, "is there anyone in here?" the dark responded with dead silence, Kanade walked back outside and looked around, until she saw a figure move across the building across from her, "Excuse me!" She called, the figure stopped. Kanade waited for a response form it but it didn't say anything, she walked toward the figure about fifteen steps until it shifted directions. She immediately stopped and watched the figure pan its body over to her, its head was low until it turned to her, slowly the figure lifted its head and flashed it's blood red eyes and let out a low rumbling growl. She watched it raise its arm up, the arm bubble and melt until it mutated into a long double bladed sword, then it let out a loud roar. Kanade immediately turned around and ran for the dormitory she could hear the creature's loud footsteps stomping behind growing louder and louder.

"What the hell?!" Clyde yelled,

"There's one on campus, let's go!"Otonashi ordered as he ran through the opened door and raced down the stairs while Clyde followed behind Clyde followed behind.

Kanade evaded by diving sideways to the ground and the creature charged right past her. It char-crashed into the dormitory and turned around, it growled and placed it's hand on the ground and drew its blade back, it was prepped to charge at any given second, Kanade pulled up her arm to activate her hand sonic, "Guard skill, hand-" before she could activate someone called from inside the dorm,

"Hey!" Otonashi yelled as he drew his sword from his back. The figure turned around, blade still ready to strike, Otonashi looked over and saw Kanade laying on the ground staring at him with a straight face. Clyde stopped at the top of the stairs and watched as Otonashi took his stance before the figure, the figure let out a roar and thrust it's blade forward, Otonashi pulled his sword to his shoulder and let the figure's blade glide across his. Otonashi noticed the creature over extended it's reach and pushed it's blade knocking it off balance, in one quick motion Otonashi swung his sword through the figure's head. Kanade and Clyde watched as the head flew and dissipated through the ground, "_where did it go?" _Kanade thought. She glanced up and watched the figure body fall to the ground as blood fell from where it's head used to be. soon after the body also dissipated into the floor leaving behind a pool of blood.

Otonashi flicked the blood from his sword and sheathed it on his back, he walked over to Kanade and knelt beside her, "What the hell were you thinking?" Otonashi scolded,

"I tried to find you two," Kanade answered blandly,

"You can't be out here at night that is one of the basic rule of this campus!"

"Okay."

"_What the hell is wrong with her, she seems like nothing ever happened."_

There was a loud roar in the distance followed by another in the same direction,

"We need to get moving," Clyde said as he walked over to the two

Otonashi nodded and stood up, Kanade stood and waited, "We're heading back to the office and you are coming with us." Otonashi looked over Kanade's shoulder and looked at another figure prowling on all four legs, red spikes pulsed from it's back as it crawled slowly and almost unnoticed, "Run!" Otonashi yelled as he turned and ran, Without question Kanade followed along with Clyde.

The three ran into the office Otonashi slammed the door behind them and locked it, they sat down to catch their breath. As they began to quietly breath calmly Otonashi spoke, "You're relatively new here so I'm assuming that you have a lot on you're mind, first off I'm going to give you the rules, one, no going out after eleven without an escort, two no going out past midnight period, three try to stay alive as best you can."

"What was that?" Kanade asked,

"That's the schools worst enemy, we call them shadows. After almost a hundred years ago a variation of the shadows appeared, human students went missing and we sent search parties during the day to search for them, until one day a search party came back late, but they said that something followed them back, most of us took up arm and walked back to where they searched, by the lake, they saw one of the shadows standing at the edge of the lake and on the floor before it was a student, he was massacred by this thing so the party shot at it, it died but the night after, these things appeared more frequently, they came out at night to hunt us, but after about sixteen year later our easy going job got harder, they became stronger and smarter, not only that but bullets didn't seem to do the trick anymore, they just deflected off the shadow's body, we took some time and sacrifice to figure out how to beat them then we found out the we had to get close in, which means we needed something that we could hit it with close up, and that meant a sword. After a while they started varying, some were completely useless, like the shrimps that are small and just crawl on the ground, but there are a few strong ones, we classified them by their strength and recognized them, F was the lowest while SS represented the strongest. Some people hunt them down and in turn we give them rewards. However we lost so many people to these creature's and so we have to fight to survive in this school." Otonashi explained,

"So what makes these Shadows so dangerous, you stabbed me and I healed quickly."

"Let's leave it at this, when a shadow kills you, it consumes your body and soul, so think fast and fight hard until your dying breath."


	4. Who am I?

Chapter 4: Who am I?

(Class 2-B)

Kanade sat at her desk and scribbled away at a piece of paper as the teacher gave a lesson on Japanese history. Only Kanade was not writing notes she had spent the past forty-five minutes doodling on multiple pieces of paper, "_I can't take notes," _she thought, "_students have disappeared by being a model student."_ She stopped doodling and pondered for a moment, "_If this is true then why are those two here, Clyde and Otonashi. Why haven't they passed on?"_ Kanade stood from her seat and started for the classroom door,

"Excuse me miss where are you going?" The teacher asked in a low voice that was barely considered audible. Kanade turned and answered simply,

"I don't feel well." She walked out of the class and looked down the hallways of the school. There were no signs of damage, the windows were almost transparent and the floors looked as if they had been freshly waxed within the past hour. Kanade walked down the hallways until she came across the stairs, "_I haven't been to the roof yet have I?" _Kanade asked herself. She walked up the stairs about two floors and came across the rooftop door. She noticed that the door was slightly opened, though she figured that maybe a custodian had been around and forgot to close it. She pushed the door gently and it opened with ease and she walked out on to the roof top. She inhaled the cool air and let the breeze gently kiss her skin the breeze soothed her it was like a powerful being filling her with life. Her hair swayed in the air majestically she closed her eyes and smiled, she had never felt this in heaven the climate had always been moderated.

"Taking in the breeze?" Clyde asked from across the rooftop, he leaned on a chain link fence and was observing the activities in the courtyard. She looked over to him, nodded and let out a short 'mhmm' in acknowledgment, "shouldn't you be in class?" he asked.

"I felt like stepping outside for minute," Kanade answered,

"I see."

Kanade walked over to Clyde and placed her hand on the chain link and looked down upon the people in the courtyard. They were so small, like ants marching about in a systematic routine. She looked over to Clyde, he smiled as he watched the people perform their activities, "You know it really doesn't matter whether you go to class or not, the staff here is not really about student attendance," Clyde said,

"What do you mean?" Kanade asked,

"Well there aren't a lot of people coming and going these days, some come through work about their regular routine and move on to the next life."

"What are you talking about," Kanade asked once again,

Clyde chuckled and looked over to her, "I guess you don't know the rules of this place. Well I guess the word 'rules' would be an understatement, they're more like qualifications. But in case you haven't noticed yet everyone in this world is dead in the real world."

"I'm aware of that."

"Ah right, I guess Otonashi didn't really give you the kindest of greetings, but that aside everyone here to fulfill what they didn't get to enjoy and that is their youth. Once they've lived enough they pass on to the next life, but that task as daunting as it is proves to be very difficult."

"How so?"

"Well no one really knows how to pass on, people tried to be a model human by being kind to everyone, others have tried performing valiant efforts either way most people end up the same within a year or two, they lose sight of who they are and they give up on trying. Sometimes that leads to sever consequences, some people have tried venturing out into the mountains to 'find their path' but personally I find it to be bullshit. But then again I've seen some people walk up to a shadow and let it take their soul, and become one themselves. But what they don't understand is that they need to be themselves, there is a certain persona that everyone has but they are afraid to let it loose. Shit how can I say that when I don't even know who I am?"

"You're you," Kanade said trying to encourage him a bit,

"Ha, it's easy to say that, but one day you'll end up where I am and start asking yourself the same question, that is if you don't end up like the other people

"So these, 'other people,' they basically gave up on life."

"Yeah pretty much."

There was a pause between them in which the silence was filled by the gentle breeze of the wind.

"So where do the Shadows come from?" Kanade asked,

"Well I wish I could tell you, no one really knows where they come from but they only have one real motive and that is taking souls, they're only out at night and they stay in the caves in the mountains but other than that, that's all we really know about them. Not to get off topic but do you remember what you were doing before you… well died?"

Kanade thought for a moment, she remembered what she was doing and why she was in this place, however she felt that her story would be unbelievable so she made up a lie for the time being, "I was in a car accident, I guess I didn't make it." Kanade answered.

"I'm sorry to hear."

"If you don't mind me asking how did you die?"

"Well I was beaten to death, protecting someone who I thought I loved. A beautiful girl, I was young and stupid and just like any young and stupid kid would I stood up for a false hope, a hope that I would get a chance at the girl of my dreams. When a couple of guys were picking on her one day my dumbass decided to step in, so they changed their focus to me and lets be honest as a first year I did nothing to those guys they were much bigger than I was and well I got my ass kicked." Clyde chuckled a bit and paused, "Oh well what can you do, what's done is done and there's no going back." Kanade looked down almost in shame, she couldn't remember how she died she lived for the last ninety-nine year in what she thought was a perfectly peaceful life, "Well all of us have a story, mine is just a mere scratch compared to what others have had done to them. We should go see Otonahsi see what he's up to."

"What about our classes?" Kanade asked,

"In all honesty it doesn't really matter whether you got to class or not, the staff doesn't really bother you about it, whether you pass or fail you still attend here at the school, I've been here for ninety-nine years and I haven't had one complaint about me missing school."

"_Oh that's right; you would get obliterated if you attend classes." Kanade thought, _"So basically you were held back," she stated

"Well…. I don't know but Otonahsi graduated and he's still the student body president so I'm assuming class is irrelevant," Clyde said just before he walked back into the school. Kanade took one last glance at the students; she inhaled the cool air and followed inside.

Student council room

"Thank you for giving my life to me," She said. Otonashi reached out to the faceless girl,

"Don't leave me!" he yelled. The last thing he cared about was about to leave, he knew it she knew it but who was this girl that he had loved almost entirely. He blinked and in an instant she was gone, never to be seen again.

"Otonashi," a faint voice called, "Otonashi," it said again only louder, "OTONASHI!" Aya yelled slamming her hand on the table. Otonahsi woke up from his sleep and looked up at Aya, his second in command.

"What?" Otonashi asked confusedly,

"Can you stay awake for about five minutes please? We have to take care of this shadow problem." Aya was a short girl her face made her appear of sixteen but her body resembled that of a more mature person. No one really knew how old she because she would never disclose her age along with how she died, she wore a black council suit and had her dark brown hair tied into a ponytail. Her eyes were a piercing green, the more she looked at you the more intimidating she became, and however Otonashi seemed unfazed by this… most of the time. The council room was composed of five students all of which had died, they roamed around the school monitoring the perimeter of the school for any shadow activity and making sure that students and NPC alike attended their classes, however at this moment there was one member missing, Clyde.

"The shadows come and go as they please we can't control them, if it's on the campus then we deal with it. However," Otonashi paused,

"However what? That is the first time a shadow has acted so aggressively, aside from that S class shadow Daxos, what if another-"

"Hold on!" Otonashi said sternly and silencing Aya, "This one was different; usually the Shadows attack people on impulse this one acted almost as if it had a directive. It seemed like it was after the new girl Tachibana."

"Okay, why do you say that?"

"Because shadows usually hunt and fight in packs, this one acted alone."

The room was silent for a moment,

"Alright then we set guards at the perimeter of each building," Aya suggested,

"And with what people would we do that with, most of our troops passed on last year, or were slaughtered after the last fight we had with them."

"Okay then we can recruit some students."

"Can't do that without their consent, the staff may be NPC but they'll still act and ban any un-necessary or unacceptable actions."

Clyde busted through the door of the council, everyone's eyes glanced up to him in disappointment. Kanade followed in closely behind him and walked over to the corner of the room to observe the situation, "After noon Aya, you're looking gorgeous as ever," Clyde stated,

"Shut up and take a seat you're late, and who's this person you've brought with you she is not supposed to be in here."

"That's Tachibana she's the new student I was telling you about she claims she's been here before," Otonashi said with his head buried between his arms. Kanade took a small step back into the wall in fear of Aya's commanding attitude.

"Ah Otonashi…. Looking grim as always," Clyde said as he walked behind Otonashi,

"Jackass," Otonashi responded, "So I'm assuming Clyde dragged you along?"

Before Kanade could speak she had noticed Clyde moving his hand to catch her attention, she looked up to see him mouthing the words, 'no.'

"I uh… I actually came here on my own accord."

"So you've come to join the squadron?" Aya exclaimed with glee, her eyes brightened with relief and enthusiasm,

"N-no, I-I mean uh yes. Yes I have…. What's the squadron?" Kanade asked,

"Oh my god! You don't know its team of rag tag people from the school who-" Aya was stopped in her rambling by Clyde,

"JESUS CHRIST AYA! I have never seen you so damn excited over a new recruit."

"Shut up Clyde! Do you know how long it's been since a girl joined!" She exclaimed in her stern voice once again.

There was a long silence that filled the room almost all the students stared at her wide eyed and in shock,

"Hey are you sure she doesn't have a few screws loose?" Clyde whispered to Otonashi,

"I think she might be sick," Otonashi whispered back,

"I don't think you get sick in the afterlife," Clyde whispered.

"I can hear you," Aya said sternly,

"I mean in all honesty this is the first time you've acted like this," Lee stated. Lee was a muscular kid, he ripped the sleeves off his shirt to flash his masculinity, and he had a well-structured face and red hair that was spiked backwards, and his eyes were as crimson as hair. He wore a piercing on each ear and leaning in arms was as staff the bore a blade about a foot long on both sides.

"Yeah, you kind of had this stern attitude for about as long as we knew you, you've never snapped like this," Hisashi Claimed. Hisashi was a young but skilled kid, he was the most graceful of the bunch he had short blond hair that brushed to the left of his face and barely covered his eyebrow. He had dark blue eyes, and he wore the same uniform as Lee only he had the long sleeves still intact.

"ENOUGH!" Otonashi yelled. Almost immediately the room was silent, "The Squadron is a team known as SSS it is basically it is the unit that attacks and defends against the Shadows, That's the short version. However we are running low on members so if you would like to join then by all means do."

"_What do I do," _Kanade thought, _"if I help them I may possible be obliterated but I won't be going to heaven, however if I don't join then I may not find out more about who I am. More about Otonashi… I have to have met him before but where, how, why?"_

So what do you say?" Otonashi said as he slipped a release paper on the table and placed a pen beside it, "if you join then you obligate yourself to fighting against the Shadows."

Kanade's heart raced, she was pressured she didn't know whether to join or proceed about her day as an average student. She paused for a moment and stared blankly, "_the students, they were all part of a… rebellion, what was it called? Damn surely if I join, it would be like the students that and disobeyed, but do I want anarchy…. If it's the way that all the other students passed, maybe I'll find my own way, and maybe more about who I am."_ Kanade moved toward the table and sat down diagonally to Otonashi and beside Lee who stared at her with a grim and almost aggressive look. Otonashi slid the paper and pen over to Kanade; she picked up the pen and signed 'Tachibana.' Otonashi picked up the paper and examined it.

He smiled warmly, "Looks good," he said. Everyone smiled and was relieved that they had another member in their squadron. Otonashi extended his hand to Kanade, she gripped his hand and shook it, "Welcome to the SSS."


End file.
